Which returned more over the last year, GLD or SDY?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and SDY +16.5%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or SDY?

SDY is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

GLD vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

GLD is a commodity fund and SDY an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SDY returned +16.5% against +2.5%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about GLD and SDY

Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $135.8bn for SPDR Gold Shares and $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF.

GLD on its own →SDY on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SDY costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.0 points; GLD is 6.2 times larger.

GLD vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	SDY
Return
Measure	GLD	SDY
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+16.5%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	SDY
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	SDY
What it tracks	Gold	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	SDY
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$135.8bn	$21.9bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	SDY
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		84%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		20.4%

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street State Street

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P Dividend

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +16.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU not measured

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.35%

Holdings not counted 156

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $135.8bn $21.9bn

GLD and SDY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

GLD

Its expense ratio is 0.40% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

GLD holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.5% with distributions reinvested, against +2.7% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.7% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

SDY

SDY tracks the S&P Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 156 positions, with the top ten at 20.4%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or SDY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and SDY +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or SDY?: SDY is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs RSP GLD vs NOBL GLD vs VOE COWZ vs GLD IAU vs SDY GLDM vs SDY SDY vs SLV SDY vs SIVR

Where to next

GLD on its own →SDY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →SDY dividend history →SDY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, GLD against SDY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-sdy

Open data →

Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.